A public warning to Putin: Knock it off – 12:25 PM 10/11/2018

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A man identified as Alexander Petrov at Gatwick airport in England on March 2. Investigative group Bellingcat reported Monday that he is actually Alexander Mishkin, a doctor working for the Russian military intelligence unit known as GRU. (Metropolitan Police/AP) One of the most satisfying moments in any spy thriller is when the bad guy — the black-hat operative who has been killing and tormenting his adversaries — does something dumb and gets caught.

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A man identified as Alexander Petrov at Gatwick airport in England on March 2. Investigative group Bellingcat reported Monday that he is actually Alexander Mishkin, a doctor working for the Russian military intelligence unit known as GRU. (Metropolitan Police/AP)

One of the most satisfying moments in any spy thriller is when the bad guy — the black-hat operative who has been killing and tormenting his adversaries — does something dumb and gets caught. That’s essentially what’s been happening recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pet spy agency, the GRU.

What’s fascinating about the GRU revelations is that they seem to reflect an aggressive pushback after several years in which Putin (chiefly through the GRU) launched recklessly aggressive covert actions against the West. The West is retaliating (at least in part) with public information that blows GRU covers and operating methods and, frankly, makes them look clumsy and incompetent.

These disclosures are the latest in a string of disasters for the GRU, a military spy service known for its panache and daring. Now, we should add sloppiness to that list of operational trademarks. The GRU’s spycraft occasionally looks closer to TV’s Maxwell Smart than John le Carre’s vaunted fictional spymaster, Karla.

The latest exposé of the GRU’s not-so-secret tradecraft came Tuesday, when a British investigative group shredded a layer of the lies surrounding Russia’s attempt to poisonformer agent Sergei Skripal in March. It was the equivalent of the tough guy in the trench coat getting caught with his undershorts around his ankles.

Bellingcat, as the group calls itself, presented photographic evidence showing that a suspect in the Skripal attack, who the Russians had claimed was a tourist named Petrov who worked in the sports nutrition business, is really a GRU doctor named Alexander Mishkin. Last month, Bellingcat had exposed another suspect, whose cover identity was Ruslan Boshirov, as GRU Col. Anatoliy Chepiga.

The most detailed exposures of GRU tradecraft came in a Justice Department indictmentthat was unsealed Oct. 4, in tandem with supporting statements from Britain and the Netherlands. The indictment, which named seven GRU officers, included details about Russian spy operations that could have been collected only by the CIA and National Security Agency and its foreign partners. (Three of the Russians had also been named in July’s indictment of 12 GRU officers for meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.)

Last week’s indictment is a treasure trove for spy mavens. One GRU hacking operation sought to sabotage the World Anti-Doping Agency’s effort to punish Russia for systematically drugging its Olympic athletes; a second, chilling GRU hack stole information from Westinghouse about advanced U.S. nuclear-reactor technology. A third targeted two investigations of the Novichok nerve agent used in the Skripal hit, one by an international chemical weapons group in The Hague and another by a chemical laboratory in Switzerland. These were brazen operations, but they were also messy.

The dry pages of the indictment reveal tradecraft secrets that could animate a half-dozen spy novels. The GRU operatives used spoof websites to “spearphish” victims into revealing login information (creating a “westinqhousenuclear.com” site, with the misspelled “q,” for example). They made payments in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. (Weren’t those supposed to be untraceable?) They used malware tools with names such as “Gamefish,” “Chopstick” and “X-tunnel.” They dumped their hacked information by sending direct messages on Twitter to 116 reporters and exchanging emails with 70 journalists.

For the past few years, the CIA, NSA and FBI have watched as hackers and whistleblowers (perhaps with a helping hand from Moscow) revealed the agencies’ hacking techniques. For U.S. intelligence officials, revenge is a dish best eaten cold.

The most astonishing disclosure came from the Dutch, who caught four GRU officers red-handed in The Hague as they were hacking the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. As Dutch intelligence officers intervened, “the conspirators abandoned their equipment,” including a backpack and other gear that revealed techniques and a string of other operations, according to the indictment. The Dutch even found a taxi receipt showing that a member of the team had left the rear entrance of the GRU headquarters in Moscow and headed to the airport.

The implicit message in all of this: If you hit us, one of the ways we will retaliate is by exposing your operatives, sources and methods. There are other reprisals underway, but these public disclosures undermine the GRU’s operational capabilities. And they must make the Russian spy service wonder: What else do the Americans and their allies know? If agent A is blown, then what about his colleagues B, C and D?

The CIA and its foreign allies don’t normally like to divulge secrets like these, because they reveal how much they know about their adversary. The revelations are a public warning to Putin: Knock it off; you’re more vulnerable than you think.

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The organization was investigating the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter — believed to have been carried out by GRU operatives — in the United Kingdom using the chemical agent Novichok.

RALPH NOYES AND Bonnie Adkins stand in front of the 1933 friendship quilt recently given to the Salisbury Church and hanging in the church’s narthex…. Photo courtesy Salisbury Church SALISBURY — The Salisbury Church is holding a rummage sale on Friday and Saturday, Oct.

A mystery third man, using the alias Sergey Fedotov, reportedly landed in London on March 2 – the same day as ‘Alexander Petrov’ and ‘Ruslan Boshirov ‘…. These men are wanted over the attempted hit on the Skripals in Salisbury Timeline of movements of Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov who are suspected of conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire The 45-year-old was on a different inbound flight, but left on on the same plane as the GRU agents on March 4, according to an analysis of passenger lists by Fontanka news agency.

THE Novichok assassins may have had an accomplice who flew in and out of UK on the same dates as the two GRU spies, a Russian report has claimed…. Borishov, circled, was caught smiling with his associate in Salisbury hours before the attack on the Skripals Enterprise News and Pictures Sergei and Yulia Skirpal were both poisoned by Novichok in March this year Police release image of the perfume bottle containing novichok used in Salisbury poisoning of Sergei Skripal, that killed Dawn Sturgess For unknown reasons it had not been made public.

These men are wanted over the attempted hit on the Skripals in Salisbury Timeline of movements of Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov who are suspected of conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire The 45-year-old was on a different inbound flight, but left on on the same plane as the GRU agents on March 4, according to an analysis of passenger lists by Fontanka news agency.

In the past two weeks alone, Western investigators found that agents of Russia’s military intelligence service — commonly known as the GRU — were behind the attempted assassination of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and an attempted h ack into the global chemical weapons watchdog’s headquarters earlier this year.

Investigative group Bellingcat reported Monday that he is actually Alexander Mishkin, a doctor working for the Russian military intelligence unit known as GRU…. That’s essentially what’s been happening recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pet spy agency, the GRU.

Russian website names third GRU officer involved in Salisbury poisoning Published Oct…. 10 a third GRU military intelligence operative, Sergey Fedotov, as having been involved in trying to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury.

I saw firsthand how political ideology and partisanship were the guiding principles on how GRU is managed by your local elected officials…. There is also no change to the “local” control of GRU’s assets as city-owned “local” assets, and no way GRU can be “sold,” “privatized” or “given away” without a vote deciding such by you, the citizens of Gainesville and owners of GRU, in accordance with our city’s charter as is the exact same case now.

Sergei Skripal (left), pictured in 2006, and his daughter Yulia Skripal after her recovery from the nerve agent poisoning…. Russian channel RT aired an interview with the suspects in the Salisbury Poisoning of Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal.

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Europe 16:18 11.10.2018 Get short URL BERLIN (Sputnik) – German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer claimed on Thursday that facts likely suggested that the Russian military intelligence service was involved in a series of alleged cyberattacks across Europe, however, the minister did not specify what sources provided such information.

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[1] Four Russians, believed to be staff members of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff (GRU), were suspected of involvement in the cyber-attack…. Dutch Defense Ministry) The UK’s Accusations On the same day, the UK government accused the GRU of being behind cyber-attacks on international organizations, operating under different names.

The latest expose of the GRU’s not-so-secret tradecraft came Tuesday, when a British investigative group shredded a layer of the lies surrounding Russia’s attempt to poison former agent Sergei Skripal in March.

A third suspected member of the hit squad behind the Salisbury nerve agent attack has been named, according to a respected Russian news website. Sergey Fedotov, 45, reportedly travelled to the UK on the same day as the two suspects already charged over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. He also boarded the same flight home as the suspects whose real names were revealed earli

According to British police, two agents of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, traveling under the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, used the Soviet-made nerve agent Novichok to poison former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English city of Salisbury in March.

The explanation offered on Russian television on Thursday by the men known as Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov for their trip to London and Salisbury throws up as many questions as answers. The men – leading suspects in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia – say they were so keen to visit Salisbury cathedral that they travelled to the city on two con

Like Petrov and Boshirov, whose real names Alexander Mishkin and Anatoliy Chepiga, he had made a series of previous trips to other European destinations which, for him, included Prague, Kiev, Milan and Geneva.

LONDON (Reuters) – The Russian news website Fontanka named on Wednesday a third GRU military intelligence operative, Sergey Fedotov, as having been involved in trying to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury.

A third suspected member of the hit squad behind the Salisbury nerve agent attack has been named, according to a respected Russian news website. Sergey Fedotov, 45, reportedly travelled to the UK on the same day as the two suspects already charged over the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. He also boarded the same flight home as the suspects whose real names were revealed earli

LONDON (Reuters) – The Russian news website Fontanka named on Wednesday a third GRU military intelligence operative, Sergey Fedotov, as having been involved in trying to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury.

LONDON (Reuters) – The Russian news website Fontanka named on Wednesday a third GRU military intelligence operative, Sergey Fedotov, as having been involved in trying to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury. The website said records show Fedotov visited Britain in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and left the country on March 4 this year, the same day as two other GRU agents who have al

Pictures released by the British Metropolitan Police Service of Ruslan Boshirov (L) and Alexander Petrov, likely aliases for the two men wanted in connection with the nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia (AFP pic) PRAGUE:

The Prague-based Cesky Rozhlas broadcaster reported on Wednesday, citing Czech intelligence sources, that Russian citizens Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov accused by UK authorities of poisoning the former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the town of Salisbury, secretly visited the Czech Republic in October 2014, where Skripal himself was supposed to arrive at the same time to meet with Czech intelligence officers.

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Russia has blocked a spoof music video online mocking the country’s attempts to portray the Salisbury nerve agent attack suspects as a gay couple…. Yet after CCTV footage of the two walking through the town of Salisbury – where the attack took place – was released to the public, the pair appeared on the Kremlin-funded RT network.

Collect Unknown) Read More Sailsbury Novichok assassin’s grandma DISAPPEARS after she exposes his secret identity Like Petrov and Boshirov, real names Alexander Mishkin and Ruslan Boshirov, he had made a series of previous trips to other European destinations which, for him, included Prague, Kiev, Milan and Geneva.

Twice in the past week, the swagger and malevolent intent of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin have been on display. Investigators have revealed that Russia sent teams of military intelligence officers abroad in efforts to do harm: in one case by assassination, in the other by cyberhacking. This is how Putin bullies and intimidates his perceived enemies. In March, the former Russian military

The two spies, Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, supposedly came to Prague using their alleged cover identities, Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov…. The British authorities previously fingered Boshirov and Petrov for the nerve-agent attack in Salisbury, warning that these names are likely false.

LONDON (Reuters) – The Russian news website Fontanka named on Wednesday a third GRU military intelligence operative, Sergey Fedotov, as having been involved in trying to kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal in the English city of Salisbury.

F edotov’s passport number differs by only a few digits. It is of the same ‘64 series’ linked to not only Chepiga and Mishkin but also to other suspected agents such as Col Eduard Shishmakov, who is accused of the failed plot to assassinate the prime minister of Montenegro before its referendum to join Nato. According to Fontaka, Fedotov previously travelled to the UK in March 2016 and March 2017

The two Russian men suspected by British intelligence of poisoning Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in England in March shadowed the former double agent in Prague in 2014, Czech Radio (CR) has cited sources as saying. In an October 10 report , CR cited unnamed Czech intelligence sources as saying that the Russians — whom cybersleuthing group Bellingcat says it has unmasked as military intel

Europe 15:53 10.10.2018 (updated 15:56 10.10.2018) Get short URL PRAGUE (Sputnik) – Cesky Rozhlas media reported Wednesday, citing Czech intel sources, that Russian citizens Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov accused by London of poisoning ex-officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, visited the Czech Republic in October 2014, where Skripal himself was supposed to arrive at the same time.

Fedotov, 45, flew to London on 2 March, the same day as military intelligence agents ‘Alexander Petrov’ and ‘Ruslan Boshirov’ – but on a different flight…. Collect Unknown) Read More Like Petrov and Boshirov, real names Alexander Mishkin and Ruslan Boshirov, he had made a series of previous trips to other European destinations which, for him, included Prague, Kiev, Milan and Geneva.

The Russian news website Fontanka says a third suspect in the Salisbury attack was traveling under the (likely false) identity “Sergey Fedotov.” Without naming its sources, Fontanka claims that the British authorities will soon announce that “Fedotov” was in London in March 2018 on the same days as “Alexander Petrov” and “Ruslan Boshirov” (the two men already identified as suspects in the poisoning case).

LONDON (AP) — One of the two suspects in the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy in England is a medical doctor in Russian military intelligence who was honored as a Hero of the Russian Federation by President Vladimir Putin in 2014, a group of British investigators said Tuesday. British police say two GRU agents traveling under the aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Borishov used a Soviet-made ne

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Alexander Mishkin, the second man accused of involvement in the Skripal assassination plot, was likely to have been sent on the mission because he was a trained doctor capable of providing an antidote in case the novichok attack went wrong, according to security sources.